


Welcome to the Other Side

by SilverLynxx



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - The Greatest Showman, Drabble, Ficlet, M/M, One Shot, Pre-Slash, The Other Side, plot deviation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 13:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13459005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverLynxx/pseuds/SilverLynxx
Summary: Barnum promised to show Carlyle the other side. He delivers.





	Welcome to the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> **Unedited**  
>  My first foray into The Greatest Showman fanfiction! I was shipping these two faster than you could say _peanut shells_   
> 

The shot glass comes down on the bar with a resound _clack_.

Carlyle leans back on his stool, propped up against the bar. His blue eyes are alight with exhilaration and his lips wet with a rich sheen of whisky.

Barnum stares hard, his mouth split in a wide grin. He’s panting, chest visibly heaving, but it’s no longer just from their impromptu bartering. The ringmaster barely acknowledges the sound of the barman exiting, like the finishing steps of a well-choreographed dance.

Without further delay, Barnum stalks towards his new partner who looks at him with a languid grin. It only spurns Barnum forward with more fervour. He neatly inserts himself between the younger man’s spread legs and brings his hands down on the bar top, trapping his new junior partner in place as he locks their lips in a searing kiss.

Their breath, hot, wet, wanting exhales, pass between them as Carlyle’s mouth falls open in surprise. The elder man pushes in, tongue tasting the sweet bite of alcohol on Carlyle’s lips, on his tongue. The intensity of Phineas’ assault and leverage forces Carlyle's head lower, until his back arches and his chest presses into Barnum's. The younger man moans.

Barnum pulls back only slightly, teasing his tongue over the playwright's soft, swollen lips before he tilts his head to breathe hotly in the man’s ear.

“Welcome to the other side,” Barnum croons, feeling the arousal tremble through the smaller body pinned beneath him.

With a flourish, Barnum steps back and pulls his scarf around his neck, placing his hat low on his brow. He saunters to the door with his coat under his arm, and pauses to grin back at his new apprentice. “See you at the Circus, Mr. Carlyle,” he says, before stepping out onto the street.

Carlyle stares after him until the door swings shut and Barnum is completely out of sight; only then does he lets his head fall back against the bar with a dull thud.


End file.
